Not Today, Satan

I have heard it said that God gives the hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. And while I am pretty convinced it holds little water theologically, I do know that the enemy does fight. He fights hard and he fights dirty. But I also know that God is the strongest soldier anyone could ever ask …

Living a Life of Invisibility

I've spent most, if not all, of my life feeling like I was invisible. Not like nobody-can-see-me-like-I'm-a-ghost type invisible. More like the type of invisible where you're in a room full of people and everyone is talking around, about, or even to you, but no one is talking with you. The kind of invisible where …

God is Good…

...all the time. Sometimes, when I think about God I get overwhelmed. Like, my mind literally cannot comprehend how great, awesome, and unbelievably good He is. When I think about the crucifixion, I am moved to tears. When I think about how small and insignificant we are in comparison to how grand and great God …

Shoe Boxes of Memories

I have these shoe boxes in my room, probably four or five of them, filled with memories from throughout my life. I started collecting mostly, but not completely, various important papers, in probably fourth or fifth grade, and I have gotten quite the collection over the years. I have everything from plane boarding passes, to …

On Weeping and Being Forsaken

"I'm tired of hearing about the brokenness of those outside the church. What about those of us in the church who are broken? Just once, I'd like a sermon on 'Jesus wept' and 'my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? ' " So, here's your sermon on "Jesus wept" and "my God, my …

The God of My Chaos

"I feel I am being called to ministry." There, I finally said the words I know I should have said long ago. The words I had always been avoiding saying. Not because they were words I didn't want to say, or because they were bad words to say, but because saying them meant two things. …

The God of the Stillness

I have been thinking a lot lately, mostly about my future. Because my life has been a whirlwind of a journey and the ending is nowhere in sight. In May, I went to Brazil, and while I was hiking the beautiful waterfalls, I was awestruck and reminded of something so simple yet so unimaginably profound. …

A Brazilian Languages

Apparently this whole Brazil trip is going to be a lot like my Kenya trip when it comes to blog titles. So, be prepared for a Brazilian series of overdone puns. #sorrynotsorry Anyway, this post is actually a link to my post on the group's trip blog. I wanted to post it here too because …

A Brazilian Homes

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the once in a lifetime opportunity I've been given to go to Brazil. And today, I had my first day in this wonderful place. If you didn't read my last post, or in case you forgot, I'll mention again that, oftentimes recently, I've been feeling restless. And sometimes, I feel so …

One in a Brazilian Chance

Two years ago, about this time, I was preparing for two huge events in my life. One, I was preparing for a missions trip to Kenya through Bible Quizzing. And two, I was preparing to go to college. And now, here I am, two years later, preparing for another huge event in my life-- an …